10 Wrestling Legends Whose WWE Returns Hurt Their Legacy
9. Scott Steiner
Always one of the sport’s more colourful characters, Scott Steiner has done enough throughout his wrestling career to mark him as a legend.
Sadly, none of it has happened in the past 17 years.
Scott and his brother Rick were an excellent tag team. They ran roughshod through the competition in WCW and Japan during the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, and after establishing themselves as one of the best tag teams on the planet, the Steiners headed to WWE in 1992.
WWE leaned heavily on their collegiate wrestling accolades, and the Steiners were always featured prominently in the division. The accumulated two WWE Tag Team title reigns during their 18-month run with the company, but eventually departed in the summer of 1994, and that’s when things started getting weird.
Scott was reborn as Big Poppa Pump. His physique became grotesquely jacked, his promos increasingly nonsensical, and it looked very much like he was losing his mind. Steiner returned to WWE in 2002, long after WCW had died, and he was a shambles. His early World Heavyweight Title feud with Triple H fell completely flat with a set of plodding matches at the Royal Rumble and No Way Out, and Steiner was quickly pushed back down the card.
Steiner was released again in 2004 when it became apparent that his old, beaten up body couldn’t hack it any more. He continues making independent appearances with his unique brand of craziness across America today, but when considering Steiner’s legacy, it’s best to forget his last WWE run.